Rain stops play? Not a chance!
After a rest last year the Harrods Aviation Corporate Golf Day was back in September at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire and appeared to be as popular as ever.

August 2008 was unseasonably wet across the UK with widespread flooding. It was little wonder then that in the build-up to the day the weather was the topic on everyone’s lips. We have always been so lucky with the weather at our golf day that our players have come to expect sunshine from us.

And so to the day itself. Nine holes on the estate’s Palmerstone course awaited the players after their golfers’ breakfast. Early ‘murk’ was lifting by the time tee-off commenced and so initial concerns about rain were soon forgotten.

A staggered lunch break gave the golfers the chance to look at the prizes up for grabs in the afternoon. This sent a few off to hit some last minute practice drives at the range.

The geography of the Melbourne course allows for some stunning long distance views which were at times framed by looming large black rain clouds. Luckily the sun saw fit to grace us with its presence and the afternoon turned out to be glorious.

As is always the case we had a hole in one competition so the tee at hole 14 was adorned this year with a yellow Lamborghini. The value of the prize attracted some stringent conditions from the insurance provider including a PGA Pro as a witness and unedited video footage of every tee shot. Perhaps then it was this added pressure that kept our golfers from finding the hole!

Another interesting hole was the second where, for a time, a pair of swans and their signets took-up residence on the edge of the green. So not only did the players face a difficult tee shot over the lake, but they also had to avoid the swans that seemed totally oblivious to the danger they were in.

Considering the amount of rain the UK had seen in the weeks preceding our golf day, the courses were in excellent condition and our players enjoyed some stunning fairways and greens until, that is, the heavens opened!

Fortunately for those fourballs that had teed off first in the afternoon event they made it back to the clubhouse dry, but the others got drenched. We had been so lucky all day to have avoided the showers but there was no escape from the monsoon conditions that closed out the afternoon.

The day came to a close after the prize giving ceremony which saw the winners of the afternoon competition take home a superb prize-haul that included lead crystal trophies and Ping drivers.